Beloit man arrested on seventh-offense drunken driving charge

JANESVILLE—A Beloit man was arrested Tuesday evening after deputies were dispatched to South La Prairie Town Hall Road near East Maple Lane for a call of a vehicle idling at the side of the road with a man who appeared to be unconscious in the driver's seat.

Jimmy Walls, 43, Beloit, was arrested at 5:15 p.m. on a charge of seventh-offense drunken driving, according to a Rock County Sheriff's Office news release.

Deputies found Walls sleeping in the driver's seat of his 2011 Dodge pickup, which was pulled to the side of the roadway and still running.

Paramedics were able to wake Walls, and he declined any medical treatment.

While talking with deputies, Walls admitted to drinking alcohol, and the investigating deputy could smell an odor of intoxicants. After field sobriety tests, Walls was arrested, according to the news release.

A check of Walls' driving record showed six prior drunken-driving convictions, according to the news release. Deputies also reported find an open bottle of liquor in the cab of the pickup.

A preliminary breath test showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.279, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08.